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GreenDrop, a company that collects items for charities, offers curbside pickup at its Brookfield location.
“The donor doesn’t even have to get out of their car,” general manager Jason Coss said. Once an employee collects the items from a donor, the company sends a receipt by email. All donations are tax-deductible.
“We want to make it as efficient and environmentally friendly as possible,” Coss said.
The company even takes items that may not be in perfect condition. If they can’t be sold at a thrift shop or used overseas, they are sent to be recycled.
Started in Pennsylvania in 2012, GreenDrop now has locations and trucking depots all the way down the East Coast from New England to Virginia Beach.
Coss said the GreenDrop’s most received items are clothing and appliances. While the company does take small appliances, it does not accept larger ones because they are expensive to handle.
The company provides an alternative to charity drop-off boxes, which are often found in areas that don’t feel safe or are not well-lit, Coss said.
For those who don’t want to visit the store, the company offers free home pickups. Clients can make appointments over the phone or the Internet.
The donations eventually become property of the charities they serve, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the National Federation for the Blind.
Before housing GreenDrop, the Brookfield location was a jewelry store. It is located on Federal Road just steps from the Danbury border.
The store’s bright storefront and logo makes some motorists believe that GreenDrop is a smoothie or ice cream store. (And there is a Robeks smoothie shop next door.)
When those ice cream and smoothie seekers enter the store, employees hand them brochures and information on how to donate. And, when they have items to donate, he said, “they’ll come back.”
For more information GreenDrop, visit the company’s website here.
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